Making a lifestyle change: Losing a job, becoming a full time homemaker and learning to live frugally.

October 28, 2010

Meals from the Pantry

Maureen left a comment on my pantry post as to if I would be posting some of our meals during this time. I thought I would get a head start as I started eating out of the pantry and freezer last weekend.

I made some potato soup on Saturday night and after it cooled I put it in the fridge to warm up after church for Sunday lunch. I took half a bag of hash browns from the freezer and used them to replace the 6 cooked diced potatoes in my recipe. I shredded some carrots and cooked them in a small amount of water and drained the water. I put some additional water in the pot and cooked the hash browns. I drained the potatoes in a colander and kept the potato water. In the meantime I melted some butter and added flour, salt and pepper and cooked til bubbly. To this I added some onion powder, salt, pepper, a pinch of the nutmeg and 2 cups of milk and the potato water. After this mixture was slightly thickened I added three slices of american cheese, the carrots and the potatoes. I had some little smokie sausages in the freezer and I took 1/2 a package and diced them and added them to the soup and it simmered for a while. Then I cooled it and stuck it in the fridge for the next day.

On Sunday I warmed up the soup and then I made some Apple Salad. I took 3 large apples from my stash of bargain apples and I diced them and added a few raisins. I then made a dressing from Miracle Whip with a little sugar and thinned with milk and poured over the apples. I had some Italian bead in the freezer and sliced it length wise and spread with some butter on both sides. One side I sprinkled with a little garlic and the other side I took some grated cojack cheese and sprinkled over it. I sprinkled both sides with Italian seasoning and I put the bread in the oven to warm and brown while the soup was simmering.

For dessert I had baked a homemade yellow cake with an almond icing. Hey, it's Sunday so I always make sure there is dessert for Sunday.

On Monday night we had pancakes and sausage with some fresh pineapple.

Tuesday was vegetable soup night. I took the container of leftover broth, meat and vegetables that I keep in the freezer and I warmed it on the stove. I added a handful of frozen mixed vegetables, 1 can of beef broth and two bay leafs and we had some great soup. I made some grilled cheese sandwiches to go with the soup.

Wednesday night was spaghetti and garlic bread night. I had some fresh fruit available also. It was a quick meal as I was gone for the majority of the day.

Tonight I made salisbury steak and gravey. I took 1 lb. of hamburger and 1 lb. of ground turkey and mixed them together. I added some onion flavored crackers that had gone stale, some ketchup, onion powder, a little mustard, 1 egg and a little milk. I formed them into patties and fried them on the stove. When they were done I removed them from the pan and added 1 can of cream of mushroom soup to the broth in the skillet and 1/2 an envelope of onion soup mix and a little milk. I heated this to a low boil and returned the meat patties to the skillet. In the meantime I made homemade mashed potatoes and cooked some frozen broccoli.

I was interrupted half way through cooking this meal by about 45 minutes and by the time I got back to cooking, I forgot to open a can of peaches to serve with our meal.

We have enough leftovers tonight for tomorrow night's meal.

So we had simple meals from items from our freezer along with some fresh produce. These are the kind of meals that our family will eat and enjoy.

4 comments:

Thanks so much for helping me to get a better understanding of how your pantry works for you.

I also love hearty good for you meals, but as we are heading into Summer I am going to be eating lighter food, more salads and fresh fruit.

Hubby has just come home from the Doctor and his Cholesterol count is up so we are going to be cutting out a lot of fat from now on, so fried food is going to be a no no, but please keep those recipes coming I,m writing some of them down.

I use this basic dressing of Miracle Whip thinned with some milk with some added sugar to several salad recipes. I use it over a tossed salad especially with fresh tomatoes and fresh leaf lettuce from the farmer's market. I use it in the classic shredded carrot raisin salad, the broccoli - bacon salad, and I use it on shredded cabbage with added pineapple or mandarin oranges.

It is also good in a summer BLT Salad - cooked macaroni, chopped tomato, crumbled bacon and shredded lettuce on top. This is a standby concoction that my mom used all the time.

I forgot to post that I had some seedless grapes on hand and sliced a few and tossed them in with the apples.

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I am a 54 year old wife and mom. I worked for 27 years and became unemployed in July of 2009. It was then that I made a decision not to look for another job. Living frugally and making a few sacrifices have been worth it as I am living my dream of being the homemaker that I have always wanted to be. In 2013 I became a first time grandma and now I spend 4 days a week caring for my grandson while his parents work.